HDFView Library Linking Error

HDFView / Java HDF Object Package
1

I tried to use the search tool to find a similar post. I’m sure someone has had this problem before.

If I try to open an HDF4 file from the open menu, the program quits out - no error. If I use a file association, I get the following error:

HDFView root - C:\Users\Chris\AppData\Local\HDF_Group\HDFView\3.1.1
User property file - C:\Users\Chris.hdfview3.1.1
*** Unable to open file ‘C:\Users\Chris\AppData\Local\Temp\AST_L1T_00306152017033102_20170616101922_32006.hdf’: HDF4 library linking error ***
*** java.io.IOException: Unsupported fileformat - C:\Users\Chris\AppData\Local\Temp\AST_L1T_00306152017033102_20170616101922_32006.hdf ***

I suspect I am missing a file - or it is in the wrong place.

This is ASTER data L1T (EOS Spacecraft). I tried opening multiple files. File corruption is not likely. 22 to 88 MB. Win 8.1 Pro on an i7 gen 9 workstation. I am new to HDFView.

2

It looks like there is a problem with the new release when accessing HDF4 files. Thank you for reporting! We will try to address the issue ASAP.

Meanwhile, one can find binaries for the old releases at https://gamma.hdfgroup.org/ftp/pub/outgoing/QATEST/hdfview/binaries/windows/

Thank you!
Elena

3

Unfortunately, the packaging for HDFView 3.1.1, left out the two hdf4 libraries.
If you want to stay with the 3.1.1 release - I believe you can download the HDF4 binary and copy over the hdf and mfhdf shared libraries to your HDFView install/lib folder from the HDF4 install/lib.
NOTE: on windows it would be the install/bin folder to grab the dlls from HDF4.

Allen

4

Hi

I don’t know if it is poor form to continue a thread with my problem, apologies if so, but I seem to have the same issue with 3.1.2. I’ve downloaded HDFView-3.1.2-centos7_64.tar.gz, and extracted from the rpm within using rpm2cpio.

When loading up the included sample HDF4 file (lib/app/samples/misr_am1_metadata.hdf) it reports the same error, e.g.:

*** Unable to open file ‘/lib/app/samples/misr_am1_metadata.hdf’: HDF4 library linking error ***
*** java.io.IOException: Unsupported fileformat - /lib/app/samples/misr_am1_metadata.hdf ***

I have tried downloading the HDF4 binary hdf-4.2.15-linux-centos7-x86_64-shared.tar.gz and using its shared lib files in order to address the ‘not found’ libxdr issue explained in this thread:

but I still get the same error.

I’m working on RHEL7 (arch: x86_64)

Please could someone help?
Cris

5

We have reports of issues with the binary for that platform - and will investigate and report back.

Allen

1 Like
6

And just to follow up from my earlier post, I notice that in the release notes for 3.1.2:

It states:

  • Logging and optional HDF4 requires rebuilds from source.

I’m not entirely sure what this means but it could be interpreted to mean that HDF4 capability is optional and if desired requires building HDFView from source (so the binaries won’t work, as I appear to have found). Is that interpretation the correct one?

Thanks
Cris

7

close, it means work to not include the HDF4 module. There is just the xdr.so.4 file missing, copy the actual file from the hdf4 binary (xdr.so.4.2.15) and rename.

8

We will fix the missing xdr.so file before the next release.

Allen

9

Thanks but that file (nor any file containing the substring ‘xdr’) does not appear to be in the HDF4.2.15 Centos binary, hdf-4.2.15-linux-centos7-x86_64-shared.tar.gz, which I got from here:

10

Hello!

New and unexperienced user here. I still encounter the same error message as the original poster: “HDF4 library linking error”. I cannot open the sample files, either. I reached the suggested link and looked for the xdr.so.4, but I could not find it and was not able to find a solution.

Has a fix to this problem emerged in the meanwhile?

Cheers

11

That binary (*-x86_64-shared.tar.gz) will not have it as it was built with autotools. The CMake built binary will have it, (no “_64”).

A new version of HDFView is going through final testing and should be released before the end of the month.